Photo via AP
By Zahra Hooshyar
The rise of white nationalism in the Trump Era
Donald Trump inspires domestic Terrorism
Faced with the highest number of mass shootings since 1982, America is in a violent epidemic. According to Trump, this rise in gun violence has nothing to do with his constant hate filled rhetoric. Instead, he blames the issue on mental illness and of course, video games. Research has shown this is not true.
Andrew Przyvylski, an experimental psychologist and director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute has studied the potential link between aggressive behavior and video games.
“Mainly, we found a whole bunch of nothing, there is no doubt that people become frustrated with video games but people don’t act upon the frustration by committing mass murder, they often just turn the console off”.
HATE CRIMES HAVE INCREASED BY 44% SINCE TRUMP HAS BEEN IN OFFICE
Many studies have been conducted over the past years since the election and each one has shown the same result, no correlation in violent/aggressive behavior with the use of video games.
Trump also argues that the issue lies in mental health. Granted if anyone with more melanin enhanced skin commits a crime, Trump is the first to condemn them and call them a thug, bad hombres, monkey, invader, or rodent. When a crime is committed by a lone white wolf, the perpetrator is just misunderstood and mentally ill.
Give me a break. In El Paso, Texas, mass murderer and known racist, Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas drove 600 miles from his hometown to the border-town Walmart to target the large Hispanic population going back to school shopping.
In the manifesto he uploaded just moments before the bloodshed he explained that he must “respond to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. This hateful language is directly influenced by Trump.
49/62 WEAPONS USED FOR MASS SHOOTINGS IN 2019 WERE PURCHASED LEGALLY IN THE
UNITED STATES
Following the shooting in El Paso, Trump did make some moves to pass legislation… Anti immigration legislations. In the same speech that spoke on increased gun control in the form of background checks, Trump pushed forth with immigration reform.
There is no doubt that the rise of white supremacy and white radicalism is directly associated with the way the president talks about immigrants.
His entire platform is built on fear. From the start of his presidency he has thrived off the polarization of the American people. His incessant tweets are riddled with hate speech, telling members of congress to go back to where they came from, calling immigrants invaders, calling third world countries shithole countries, referring to the Latina Miss Universe as “Miss Housekeeping”, and lets not forget what made him famous: “Build the wall”.
TRUMP BLAMES MENTAL ILLNESS AND VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH PROVES THAT IS FALSE. HIS MINDLESS RHETORIC FUELS HATRED
In the world of the Internet and direct access to information anywhere in the world, his sick words have gone past American soil.
In July of 2011, a white supremacist killed 77 people in Norway, saying that Norway had become “a dumping ground for the surplus births of the third world”. Sound familiar?
Donald Trump is a plague to humanity.
Zahra Hooshyar was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia. Daughter of Iranian immigrants. She is currently in a Sustainable Urban Agriculture certification program in San Diego, California. Working towards the completion of a BA in Studio Arts/Ceramics. I hope to create a physical space in which art and environmental stewardess are combined for growth in both disciplines to ensure a better future.
Zahra Hooshyar nació y creció en Morgantown, Virginia Occidental, EEUUA. Es hija de inmigrantes iraníes y actualmente estudia una certificación de Agricultura Urbana Sustentable en San Diego, California, además de estar inscrita en el programa universitario del estudia de Arte y Cerámica.
